AIA creates Match.com for stalled projects

One Waterfront Place, a proposed office tower for this site in Northwest Portland, could be included in an online database of stalled projects. (Photo by Sam Tenney/DJC)

Online dating services seek to connect parties who may match well but would likely never meet.

Now the American Institute of Architects wants to use this concept to link two specific groups – developers of stalled construction projects and real estate investors searching for opportunities – via an online database. Officials believe the website could provide a boost for not only the construction industry, but also the entire U.S. economy.

“The idea in the near future is to create a Match.com-type site for those looking to invest and those developers with stalled projects,” said Paul Mendelsohn, vice president of government and community relations for the AIA and a driving force behind the project. “We’ve learned from our membership that access to credit is one of the major hurdles, so through this mechanism we hope to help find some of that funding.”

Mendelsohn said the AIA is looking for projects with features inherent for success, but that are not moving forward solely because traditional lenders are adopting conservative policies.

Projects in the database would be categorized by project type, location, energy efficiency components and other features. The database wouldn’t rank project feasibility, Mendelsohn said, but it would provide as much information as an investor would need to make a decision.

AIA officials are preliminarily targeting mid-September for a launch of the basic site; expansion would take place in ensuing months. Mendelsohn said the association has received a lot of inquiries from investors, but it is just now working toward compiling stalled projects from around the country.

Saundra Stevens, executive vice president of both the Oregon and Portland chapters of AIA, said local members are excited that the AIA’s plan is moving forward.

Local developer Jim Winkler said he could definitely see how the database could aid some people. He cited inexperienced developers who have an inherently good project but need some gap financing to make it work.

Winkler is working with Bob Naito to develop One Waterfront Place, a proposed 12-story, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design platinum office tower in Northwest Portland. But the database probably wouldn’t help the stalled project, Winkler said.

“It’s interesting, just not for us,” he said. “For us, it’s about getting the tenants, not the financing. We can get the financing if we have the spaces leased.”

Winkler added that most established developers can get financing for office, industrial or retail projects if they have a good list of committed tenants. He said there would be no point in moving forward with a project if there were no one to occupy it.

“First & Main, ODS Tower and Fox Tower – those were all built with no tenants,” he said. “But that just isn’t happening anymore.”

Another stalled project in Portland is Park Avenue West, last proposed as a 26-story, mixed-use tower. Construction of the downtown Portland project was put on hold in April 2009 because lenders’ leasing requirements were not met. The project team has made numerous attempts to sign additional leases, and retool the building.

Vanessa Sturgeon, president of TMT Development, which is developing Park Avenue West, said she had not heard about the AIA database but would look into it further. When pressed if securing additional financing would push the project forward, she declined to comment.

While the AIA is hoping the database will restart projects, Mendelsohn said the bigger goal is to compile much needed data on how many and why projects are stalled.

“The original idea for this is to gather information to get in the hands of policy makers,” he said. “Getting the building sector back on the streets will not only help architects and the others in the industry, it will help jump-start the entire economy.”

3 comments

A very cool innovative idea whose time has come. I’m sure investors in the original projects would also support something like this…..there’s no worse feeling than investing hard earned cash in something that gets stuck indefinitely with no returns in site!